I love my March Pump from B3. It was one of the best birthday presents that I've ever gotten. No more lifting red hot boiling kettles!! I've been hinting at a 3 faucet tower for my birthday this year. Only 3 more weeks!! I gotta hand it to my wife, she gets almost as exited as me when I add gadgets to my obsession.

I have the March pump rated to 190* that I got from MB for around $100. I'd spend the extra $30 and get the high temp if I had to do it over. I don't have a CFC so I don't need to pump boiling wort but you never know what you might do in the future. Also look at the pump specs in reguards to your system. If you get a pump with inadequate head (height it will pump) then you have a problem.

I know this was discussed on a thread a while ago....but besides the usual post-brew cleaning of the pump w/ cleanser....is there any other maintenance? i think i remmeber someone mentioning oiling on the pump. is it clear where to oil? how about removing the housing and visually looking for gunk?

I also have this pump from B3. It was expensive, and I was a bit disappointed that it didn't have a typical NEMA opening to fit EMT tubing into the plug wiring to completely enclose it, and with it sitting down at the lowest point I have on my system, it constantly gets splashed with water (I need to put a plastic cowling over it soon to try to protect it more).

Also, you can't pump boiling wort very well. Anything below 200'F is fine though, just don't expect to be able to recirculate your wort while you are doing your boil. This would be true of any pump, really, and isn't a poor reflection of just this pump. Just something to be aware of. The low pressure created on the inlet side of the pump causes the liquid to boil and aerate, and I think you want to avoid that as much as possible (not to mention it ends up causing the pump to cavitate, and eventually you end up with air in the impeller chamber, so it loses prime).

Overall, this pump is GREAT for my brew system. I love the HERMS mashing and you get nice clear runnings after recirculating so long and setting the grain bed. Plus, I can pump through my CFC if I need more head (which I frequently do while aerating inline, as the O2 pressure adds to the restriction in the CFC).

One of the things to be aware of when using a pump is not only the head, but the difference between the pump and where it is drawing from. I had a problem with my pump where I was constantly losing prime when pumping boiling liquid. What was happening when the boiling liquid hit the pump housing it flashed into a vapor causing loss of prime. I think it was Bill P who dug in his magic bag of tricks and told me to put at least 14 inches height between the pump inlet and the bottom of the kettle. Since doing that I haven't had any trouble pumping anything, even at a rolling boil to sanitize my CFC.